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COLUMBUS, ^^^^r^ 



A POEM 



OBTAINED THE CHANCELLOR'S MEDAL 



CamtJriDge Commencement 

Jul;i/ 1813. 






BY GEORGE WADDINGTON, 

SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE. 




ARGUMENT* 

GRENADA being taken from the Moors, a Voyage of Discovery is pro- 
posed to Isabella by the patrons of Columbus, and acceded to. Her 
feelings and wishes. The great object the propagation of Christianity. 

Columbus described. His projects of Discovery first formed, 

perhaps, in Childhood, encouraged by Hope, and ultimately confirmed 

by Reason He sets sail. Address to the Gales and Sea-gods. 

His dangers and disappointments. Variation of the Needle. Mutiny 
of his men. Certain signs at length appear, and land is discovered. 
The discovery of most importance, as it tends to promote Chris- 
tianity and Civilization. Natural wonders of America. Andes and 

its Volcanoes. Rivers that rise from it. . Forests. Inferiority of the 
human race. Superiority of Civilization to a state of Nature. 
American women often murder their female infants to save them from 
Slavery. Civilization will probably be the consequence of intercourse 

with the Old World. Progress of Discovery. Peyrouse, Cook, 

Drake, Raleigh, Gama. Return to Columbus. He is sent home in 
chains ; but soon proceeds in his search after a passage to India, and 
discovers the Continent near the mouth of the Oronoco. Is ship- 
wrecked on Jamaica, and saves his men from the fury of the Indians, 
by predicting an eclipse — ■ — Isabella dies, and Columbus passes the 

remainder of his life a petitioner at the Court of Ferdinand. 

Conclusion. 



COLUMBUS. 



Ye frowning tow'rs, where erst the bright array 

Of Moorish warriors glanc'd a fearful day ; 

Ye mosques majestic, where fanatic War 

Yoked his red steeds to pale Rehgion's car, 

Are ye then falTn, and has your pride confess'd 5 

The soul that slumbers in a woman's breast ? 

But yet, methinks, if glory and if pow'r 

Must fade and vanish^ like a summer flow'r. 

If Heaven command, and Fate direct the blow, 

'Tis sweet to fall beneath a gen'rous foe. 10 

For hark ! I hear the victor Queen proclaim, 

** Ambition hence and all the pomp of fame ! 

" Let warlike toils, let furious Discord cease, 

" And yield her sceptre to the seraph Peace, 

" Hail lovely daughter of a rugged sire! 15 

" Chase the dark glooms of War with vestal-fire ; 

" Fair as when Spring first shews her trembhng form, 

" Or morn comes shiv'ring from the midnight storm. 

*' And say, shall Lusian barks alone explore 

" Each unknown wave, and number evVy shore ? 20 



4 

" Hail wealthier climes and breathe a purer air, 

" Tlie first to triumph, as the first to dare ? 

" Ye souls, that taught the faithless Moor to yield, 

^' Blaze forth more glorious in an ampler field ; 

" While to the Indian's wond'ring eyes unfurl'd, 25 

" Castilian banners bless the unknown World ; 

" Exalt his views, Religion s charms display, 

" And point the passage to eternal day." 

But who that Hero, from whose manly brow 

Conspiring virtues dart an heav'niy glow ? 30 

Each mild, each nobler grace is pictur'd there. 

The heart to feel, and yet the soul to dare : 

Onward he darts his rapture-speaking gaze. 

Eyes the blue waves that drink the ev'ning rays. 

Salutes the blushing skies, and from afar 35 

Hails the bright omen of the western star. 

Him haply slumbVing by the waves, that roar 

In hollow murmurs round his native shore. 

When ev'ry nerve was strung to Hope and Joy, 

And fancy flutter'd round her favrite Boy, 40 

Oft fairy visions bless'd, and round his head 

On lightest wing their sweet delusion spread. 

Then would he seem to plough the western main, 

While rocks oppos'd and tempests rag'd in vain ; 

See other skies and stars unnam'd survey, 45 

A milder climate, and a brighter day: 

Then would he start and gaze the concave blue, 

And half believe the fair deception true ; 



Bless the pale Moon, that pour'd a purer light, 

Bless ev'ry orb that gemm'd the vest of night : 50 

Then how his heart would boil, his bosom swell, 

Till at stern Reason's touch the baseless fabric fell. 

Yet, when the billowy solitude he view'd. 

Thoughts dimly grand and hopes sublimely rude 

Full oft would dart across his troubled mind, 65 

Would dart, and leave a dubious track behind : 

*' Ye western gales, that float on silken wing, 

*' Whence stole ye, say, the fragrance that ye bring ? 

" Is there no green-hair'd daughter of the deep, 

" Around whose shores the wild waves learn to sleep, 6o 

" Where thro' the livelong year the dancing hours 

" Fling from their golden urn unfading flow'rs ? 

" Yes, not for us alone th' imperial Sun, 

" Since time began, his giant course has run ; 

" The starry hosts their silvery ranks display, 65 

*' The Moon's bright crescent sheds a midnight day 

" On other shores, and Nature's viewless hand 

'^ Rolls smoother billows round an happier land." 

Thus would he hold sweet converse with the gale. 

That flutter'd idly round his little sail ; 7jO 

Nor ceas'd the young enthusiast's breast to glow. 

Where Zembla* slumbers in her waste of snow; 

E'en there could hope his fearless bosom warm, 

And sooth the horrors of a polar storm. 



* Columbus in his youth made some discoveries near Greenland. 



6 

And e'en when manhood's calmer pow'r refin'd 75 

The thoughts, that wanton'd in his youthful mind, 

The fairy landscape at pure Reason's ray 

Beam'd but more bright, and kindled into day : 

For he would wander by the ocean's side 

From blushing morn to ling'ring eventide, 8p 

Till the mind promis'd what the hopes conceiv'd, 

And sceptic Wisdom wonder'd and believ'd. 

Ye Lusitanian shores, ye rocks, that brave 

The idle threat'nings of th' Atlantic wave. 

Oft have ye seen him westward dart his eye, 85 

While, list'ning to the surge that murmdr'd by. 

With straining look he drank the parting light, 

Till India burst upon his ravish'd sight. 

Ye Gales, if e'er, when I'ime was young, ye bore 
Phoenician* barks around fair Afric's shore, 90 

Breathe softly sweet your mildest murmurs now, 
As when of yore young Ammon's daring prow 
Rode proudly floating down the stream, that laves 
Its native gold, and stemm'd the Indian waves. 
Be still, thou billowy bosom of the deep ; 9^ 

Ye Tempests, fold your dusky wings and sleep: 
Secure, ye Nymphs, the gallant vessels urge 
'Mid rocks that lurk beneath the glassy surge. 
In mute suspense see gazing thousands stand. 
Crown every steep and press the lab'ring strand. 100 



* See Herodotus, Book IV. 42. 



# 



But who can trace the feelings, that impart 

A fearful joy, and swell the throbbing heart? 

Where dwells despair, or ardour's gen'rous fire. 

What fears discourage, or what hopes inspire? 

Yes ! when the vessels liessen on the view, 105 

Perchance some parent weeps a last adieu; 

Then burns with shame, and clears his glist'ning eye, 

His pride enforcing, what his hopes deny. 

E'en now, methinks, the daring barks explore. 

Where fancy's eye had never pierc'd before ; 1 10 

Why start ye, Nereids, from your coral caves, 

Fly with unsandal'd foot and skim the waves ? 

Why flit ye. Spirits, on the dusky air, 

While sighs the gale and distant meteors glare ? 

Hide, sullen Genius, hide that giant form, 115 

That yokes the winds, and riots on the storm ; 

Avenge not now thy violated reign. 

Thy shatter'd sceptre and thy broken chain ; 

For if thou lov'st to drink the parting breath. 

And glut thee with the bursting sighs of death, 120 

Enough of victims shall thy arms enfold, 

While breezes waft, while oceans lead to gold. 

Where never eagle wooed meridian light, 
Where never sea-bird wing'd its wildest flight. 
The gallant vessels steer'd their lonely way; 125 

A world of waters glimmer'd to the day, 
A world of waters fading on the view 
Caught the last tints that purple Ev'ning threw. 



8 

But ah ! how oft did Hope's deluded eye 

Hail ev'ry distant cloud that fring'd the sky 130 

Beneath the pale Moon's visionary gleam, 

Till morn invidious chased the joyous dream. 

But fearless still they stem th' unfathom'd plains, 

One guide still aids them, and one friend remains. 

True as the wondrous sign, whose cloudy blaze 135 

Darken'd or glow'd on Israel's thankless gaze. 

Mysterious Magnet ! e'er thy use was known 

Fear clad the deep in horrors not its own ; 

But when thy trembling point vouchsaf'd to guide, 

Astonish'd nations rush'd into the tide, 140 

While o'er the rocking wave and billowy wild 

Young Commerce plum'd his eagle-wing and smiled. 

Mysterious Magnet ! while the tempests low'r 

Dost thou too leave them at the fearful hour? 

Does Heaven's protecting hand desert the brave, 145 

No hope to cheer them, and no pow'r to save ? 

Well may Sedition, daughter of Despair, 

Point to the boundless waste, the starless air. 

The fancied shapes that float upon the wind, 

And claim the vales that blossom far behind. 150 

But when the Spectre rear'd her baleful form 

More hideous than the fiend that rides the storm, 

Say, did the Hero from her clamours fly. 

Or shrink beneath the terror of her eye? 

Ah no 1 I see the quick indignant glow 155 

Flush his dark cheek and glisten on his brow ; 



9 

One glance from him can light a kindred flame, 
And awe the rebel spirit into shame. 

But now no tempests rage — a gentle gale 
Sighs thro' the shrouds and lingers round the sail. l6o 

The ev'ning clouds, that hover o'er the west, 
Glow with a softer tinge, a lovelier vest ; 
The bird in silence wings his way to greet 
The shady vallies of his native seat. 

Hesper leans hst'ning from his throne on high l65 

To floating strains of heav'nly harmony; 
Then all is dark, and all is still again, 
And night sits brooding o'er the silent main. 
" Is it a fire* that glimmers from afar?" 
'Tis but some lonely, melancholy star: 170 

Or meteor, that descends to drink the wave 
Or gem, that lights the Sea-fiends to their cave. 
*' It moves — again it moves — and on the sand 
" Sheds its glad beam — it must — it must be Land !" 
How sweet to sad misfortune's way-worn child l'/5 

Wanders the streamlet thro' the trackless wild ! 
How sweet, escap'd the horrors of the storm. 
The trembling Moon unveils her virgin form ! 
But oh ! how far more sweet that sacred light 
Beam'd life and glory on Columbus' sight. 180 



* Columbus himself discovered a light on shore, which he imme- 
diately saluted as an.'^emblem of the religious light he was going to 
spread. 



10 

Emblem of Faith, and all the joys, that glow 
From chaste Religion's lamp on men below, 
I hail thee too ! and may the holy blaze, 
That hides from half mankind its clouded rays. 
Pour its full flood (as Truth proclaims it must, 185 

E'er the wide world be crumbled into dust) 
On ev'ry clime, and beaming from above 
Unveil the glory of eternal love. 
Ye lonely shades, where famish'd Indians stray, 
Ye too shall blush beneath the lamp of day! I90 

Ye mountains, haply on your snow-clad brow 
Wild flow'rs shall wake to life, and fruitage blow ; 
The streams that roll their nameless waves along, 
Unknown to fame, and unadorn'd by song. 
Shall start to view triumphant navies ride, 195 

And spires reflected from their glassy tide. 

Whither does Fancy wing her rapt'rous flight? 
"Visions of wonder, spare my aching sight!" 
See where proud Andes rears his giant form. 
And smiles serenely tow'ring o'er the storm ; 200 

While round his breast innocuous lightnings play. 
And thunders roll in distant peals away. 
But when he bids his native tempests rave, 
He shrouds his brow, he bursts each secret cave, 
And wrapt in clouds from his volcano throne 205 

Pours floods of flame and lightnings all his own : 
Till when he sees his craggy summits hurl'd 
Afar, and feels the rocking of the world. 



11 

He veils his nodding crest in deeper shade. 

And trembles at the storm himself has made. 210 

Yet, tho' he crown his starry head with fire, 

A thousand rivers hail him for their sire. 

And rolling onward wake the sweets, that sleep 

Mid fragrant wilds, and bear them to the deep ; 

Or haply wand'ring thro' some trackless grove, 215 

Where the lone Indian ne'er had dared to rove, 

The green banana's od'rous leaf they lave. 

That leans and listens to the babb'ling wave; 

Till lost in lovelier shade they fear the day, 

And in melodious murmurs die away. 220 

But tell me. Nature, when thy mighty hand 
Form'd in a nobler mould this new-born land. 
With bold design a prouder work began. 
Why in such giant regions dwindles Man ? 
For mark the feeble limb, the vacant look, 225 

The listless form, that slumbers by the brook, 
And, when the summer's careless hour is past. 
Shrinks faint and houseless from the wintry blast ; 
While the proud mind's degraded treasures sleep. 
Like a gem twinkling to the reckless deep. 230 

Oh ye, who vcn'rate Nature's artless child, 
And love man best when rugged and when wild. 
If such primeval freedom's barb'rous train. 
Hail we the friendly hand that forg'd our chain! 
Stoop, Briton, stoop to bless thy Roman lord, 235 

And rev'rence Cardoc's* less than Caesar's sword. 



* Cardoc was the Caractacus of the Romans, as we learn from Welch tradition^ 



12 

Oft has the mother by some foaming tide 

Clasp'd her pale daughter's infant form and sigh'd — 

" Shalt thou too linger thro' the joyless day 

"A wretch — a slave — and weep the night away? 240 

" Endure a tyrant's scorn — a tyrant's blow — 

" With but one gloomy hope to sooth thy woe ? 

" Come let us snatch that hope and dare to die !" 

She spoke and smiled in speechless agony ; 

Then headlong rush'd into the pitying wave — 245 

*' Roll on, ye streams, and waft us to the grave ! " 

What art thou, Man, without the ties that bind 
Congenial souls, and harmonize the mind ? 
Without the hopes that thrill, the fears that move. 
The strings, that vibrate to the voice of love ? 250 

Without the tear that gems Compassion's eye? 
—A dark cloud driv'n across the midnight sky. 
Yet thou, degraded Savage, thou shalt bless 
The tender bond of social happiness ; 

Shalt rise to prouder thoughts, shalt learn to scan 255 

Thy native worth, and feel thyself a man ; 
Then too Religion's self shall smile, and fling 
Ethereal love, like dew-drops, from her wing. 

Why sing ye. Muses, round Bellona's car. 
Responsive only to the shouts of war ? 26o 

Shall harps like yours discordant rage inspire, 
Shall death be echoed from a virgin lyre ? 
Tell me, ye surges, on what desert shore 
Peyrouse lies whit'ning as the tempests roar ; 



13 

Unless, perchance, each toil and danger braved, 265 

Some Nereid loved him, or some Triton saved, 

While now his influence wand'ring unconfiu'd 

Or sooths the troubled deep, or lulls the wind. 

Or shall we sing lamented Cook, and tell 

How sigh the wild waves where a Briton fell ? 2/0 

O'er paths untried the gen'rous sailor roved, 

And died a martyr to the cause he loved.' 

But see another son of Albion * rise ! 

Fame speeds his course, and sparkles in his eyes : 

Start into light from ocean's breast, ye isles, 273 

Breathe all your sweets and lavish all your smiles ! 

Hail him, ye stars, that see his flag unfurl'd ; 

Roll on, thou Sun, and guide him round the world; 

Tis done — I see the laurell'd hero stand 

A new Columbus on a worthier land. 280 

Here wond'ring nations tell of Raleigh's fame, 

And oceans wake their echoes to his name ; 

And there, while Gama ploughs the awe-struck main : 

The Spirit"^ waves his misty arms in vain. 

But while the Muse's eye with eager gaze 285 

Of brilliant forms the length'ning train surveys, 

Wearied on him it rests, who first began 

Proud Glory's march and triumph'd in the van. 



* Sir F. Drake. 

t See Camoen's Description of the Spirit of the Cape. 



14 

But see, pale Av'rice pours her blasting breath— 

The march of Glory * is the march of Death ! 29O 

But not at him, ye fiends of vengeance, aim 

Your poison'd weapons and your shafts of flame, 

For he was dress'd in Mercy's sweetest smiles. 

Soft as the breeze that flutters round your isles. 

Is his that form, is his that steady eye 295 

Rais'd to the heav'ns in conscious dignity ? 

See now he burns with pride and clasps his chain. 

Now chides his rebel heart that swells again : 

" Are these the gifts that crown life's parting day, 

" These the rewards that grateful princes pay ? 300 

" Then hail, ye chains, since such my glorious dootn, 

" Adorn my life, and slumber in my tomb If 

" Roll on, ye waves, ye gales, go murmuring by, 

" Ye must not — shall not — hear Columbus sigh!" 

Ev'n then could Honour's magic voice control 305 

The mighty storm that struggled in his soul, ♦ 

Could chase each thought of private wrongs away, 

Like clouds that fly before the car of day. 

Again, great Chief, I see thy sails unfurl'd. 
Where Oronoco heaves his wat'ry world, 310 

Mocks the degen'rate streams round us that flow. 
Our swelling Danube, and our fabled Po ; 



* I mean here to allude only to the cruelties commited by the con- 
temporaries and companions of Columbus, which served, however, as 
a prelude to the systematic massacres which succeeded them. 

t See Robertson's History of America. Book II. 



15 

Wrapt in sublimer thoughts I see thee stand, 
And hail him offspring of a mightier land.* 

Snatch, while thou may'st, a momentary joy ! 315 

Far other dreams thy shipwreck'd hours employ. 
Where proud Jamaica rising o'er the main 
Views from her rocky throne the azure plain, 
Thy hapless crew each barb'rous outrage dare, 
And vent on friends the fury of despair; 320 

Through peaceful vales ungrateful flames arise. 
And the wild death-shrieks pierce the angry skies: 
Till rage can fire the Indian's languid heart, 
Nerve his weak arm, and point th' avenging dart. 
'Twas night, and on aethereal coursers driv'n, 325 

The pale Moon wander'd through the vault of heav'n ; 
Queen of the stars, that shrunk beneath her eye. 
She rode sublime in cloudless majesty. 
Sudden o'ercast her pure resplendent ray, 
Veil'd in portentous gloom she fades away. 330 

The chief, whose piercing eye alike could scan 
The laws of nature and the mind of man, 
Had told how night's offended power would frown, 
And shroud the heav'us in honors not their own. 
And feigned, perchance, that viewless lightnings play'd, 335 
And vengeance slumber'd in the mystic shade. 
The Indian dropp'd his spear, and own'd his Lord, 
And while he hated, trembled and adored. 



I mean the Continent ; he had as yet only discovered Islands. 



16 

Yet see ! again he ploughs his wat'ry way, 
Escap'd the wilds and man more wild than they; 340 

But still no joys shall crown thy weary head. 
Woes press on woes, and Hope herself has fled. 
Fame's short career and life's ambition o'er. 
Thy Queen, thy Friend, thy Guardian is no more. 
Set is that orb, whose radiance pour'd relief 345 

On ev'ry toil, and soften'd ev'ry grief. 
Yes, and thy waning star must shortly fade 
Shorn of its beams, and sink into the shade; 
As, following still the Sun's departed light. 
Pale Hesper trembles on the verge of night. 350 

And must that ardent soul, that manly form, 
Child of the rocks and nursling of the storm, 
Bow to a toy, and cringe before a crown. 
And kneel and tremble at a tyrant's frown? 
Shrinks that proud heart before a purple vest, 355 

While courtiers scoff and tinsell'd nobles jest ? 
Far be the thought; the weak, th* ignoble crew 
May wound thy gen'rous soul, but not subdue ; 
And when thou sink'st, thy latest light is shed 
To gild the clouds that blacken round thy head ; * 36o 

As when some meteor-flash, or lonely star 
Beams thro' the tempest's op'ning breast afar, 
It does but mock surrounding gloom, and shew 
Dread Night the horrors brooding on her brow. 

* Columbus continued till death eager to extend his discoveries, and, 
by so doing, to promote the glory of his persecutors. 



17 

But not like meteor-flash, or shot stars ray, 3^5 

Thy praise, illustrious chief, shall pass away ; 
Still shall it mount on bolder wing sublime. 
And draw new vigour from the shafts of Time. 
What, tho' Columbia bear another's name, 
Snatch'd as he has the shadow of thy fame — 3jro 

Still let him dress'd in borrow'd splendor shine, 
Since glory's bright reality is thine. 
And when in happier days one chain shall bind, 
One pliant fetter shall unite mankind ; 

When war, when slav'ry's iron days are o'er, 3/5 

When discords cease, and av'rice is no more. 
And with one voice remotest lands conspire 
To hail our pure Religion's seraph fire ; 
Then Fame attendant on the march of Time, 
Fed by the incense of each favor'd clime, 380 

Shall bless the Man, whose heav'n-directed soul 
Form'd the vast chain, which binds the mighty whole. 



